January 2017

I used to always think that I had to make a New Year's resolution each year. I'd be great about it for like 2 or 3 weeks, maybe even through the month of January. But ever so slowly, I'd give up on whatever I resolved to do. I'm a bit of a perfectionist so it never felt good to feel as if I'd failed and I couldn't follow through.

As I've gotten older, I've realized that long term resolutions don't work very well for me. I do better with short term goals that I can focus on and check off the "to do" list so to speak. This isn't to say that I never set long term goals...I do. But I try to not be so hard on myself and just take things one day at a time.

This year, I decided to try something different. I have some short term goals that ultimately will help me accomplish a long term goal. The best of both worlds, right!?! If you know me in real life, you know that I'm a pretty organized person. I like to have my ducks in a row, I'm a total planner, and chaos makes me crazy. But then I have certain spots in my life where things just sort of....pile up.

Yeah....it's like Monica's secret closet. I have areas at home and in my classroom where I put things to deal with later. Then later comes and I don't deal with them! So I've decided that each month, I'm going to tackle one space at home and one space at school that needs to be gone through. I'm going to purge and get better organized so that it doesn't take me so long to find the things I need. I'm hoping that if I handle it in small chunks, I can feel the small successes that will eventually lead to a less cluttered life!

For the month of January I've set the following goals:

Home - organize my jewelry

School - organize my guided reading materials

Wish me luck! Ha!

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are you hoping to accomplish this year?

Let me know in the comments or link up with my friends, Jessica and Kristi!

An InLinkz Link-up

<!-- end InLinkz script →

It's a brand new year! I love coming back to school after winter break feeling refreshed and ready to take on the second half of the school year. My kinders show so much growth in this half of the year. And with the beginning of a new month comes new units and new themes. I'm excited to share some of my favorite books to use in the classroom throughout the month of January with you!

Living in a part of the country where you have to drive 3-4 hours to find snow, makes it difficult to teach the seasons. I like to bring the seasons into the classroom through hands on activities and rich children's literature. Here are some of my favorite books about winter and snow! You can click on the images to find the titles on Amazon.

This post contains affiliate links for Amazon. By purchasing an item on the Amazon site using these links, I will receive a small commission on your purchase, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support the blog so I can keep it up and running and share ideas with you. The views and opinions expressed are purely my own.

Fiction

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

One of my absolute favorite books ever! Such a beautiful story of a boy exploring a day in the snow. This book is fantastic for retelling, sequencing a story, and talking about what you can do in the snow. If you are an Amazon Prime member, then you also have access to the animated production of this fabulous story!

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming

Written to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas, a young boy receives all of the things needed to build a snowman! The students love to read along with the predictable rhythm of the text. The illustrations are beautiful, too!

The Winter Train by Susanna Isern

This book is absolutely beautiful! It's a wonderful story of friendship and working together. The story also shows the transition of the season from fall to winter.

NonFiction

Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft & Richard G. Van Gelder

The "Let's Read And Find Out Science" series is one on my favorites to use in the classroom. This is a great book to compare and contrast with The Winter Train. This is a fantastic book for introducing vocabulary such as migrate, hibernate, and den. It introduces students to the different ways animals cope with the winter months.

Over & Under the Snow by Kate Messner

Such a beautiful nonfiction picture book that explores life under the snow during winter. I love teaching my students about the world under their feet. They are always surprised to learn just how much is going on in places they cannot see.

The Story of Snow by Mark Cassino

This is a great nonfiction book all about the science of snow! Student learn how snow forms and the book includes real photos of snow crystals. I love to use this book during our Snow Science unit (you can read more about that here). The explanations are very clear and engaging even for little learners.

What books do you love to read in January?